AfricInvest and Siparex to manage new €20mln Franco-Tunisian fund

French public investment bank Bpifrance and Tunisia’s Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) are backing a new private equity fund, Fonds du Co-Localisation Franco-Tunisien, a cross-border midcap fund dedicated to growth transactions in both countries. AfricInvest and Siparex, the French private equity fund manager, will manage the fund, which announced last week that it has held a first close at €20 million. Each public institutional investor committed €10 million to the fund.

The 10-year fund will prioritize investments in opportunities in companies in both countries that can exploit potential synergies and help fulfill Bpifrance and CDC’s goals of encouraging and developing economic relations between the two countries by helping rapidly-growing SMEs in each country expand their businesses in the other. The fund, while sector-agnostic, will target investments in information and communications technology, healthcare, education, food, manufacturing, transport and logistics, tourism and renewable energy.

In addition, it is hoped that the fund will help promote innovation, ensure good governance and transparency as well as increase export sales and boost job creation.